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Heathcare Astroturf Uncovered on CNN- Watch

Rick
Scott, the former chairman of Columbia Hospital Corporation, a for-profit chain
of hospitals, is the founder of an organization called “Conservatives for
Patients’ Rights.”CPR (cute,
huh?) is now funding protests like the ones we see at health care reform town
hall meetings across the country—at which Congresspeople are being shouted down, scuffles started, and
people routinely intimidated by mobs of frightened birther/wingnuts.

His
campaign is coordinated by CRC Public Relations, the same PR firm that
masterminded the 2004 Swift Boat campaign against presidential candidate John
Kerry.What’s more interesting,
Scott’s own personal history in the healthcare industry shows how the current
system can be gamed by those who would bilk the public.Scott was forced out of the Columbia
Hospital Corporation in 1997 by its board after being identified with massive
overbilling and kickbacks for which the company ended up paying the $1.7
billion in fines.